AT&T broadband users will soon face a cap on the amount of internet data they can download a month.

AT&T broadband users will soon face a cap on the amount of internet data they can download a month.

ATT USERS BEWARE!

ATT is setting a limits on the amount of Download (Bandwith) you can use for DSL subscribers CNN posted this MSG today in its tech section. TELL ATT this wont be tolerated. If your like me watching vids via netflix, or CNN news streaming media or online gaming (Flight Sim X online) you will meet this limit very fast and be forced to pay more with 10.00 per every 50GB downloaded. Please help us reverse ATT decision on this poor choice.

CALL / EMAIL ATT AND SAY NO TO THIS POLICY!

(WIRED) -- AT&T broadband users will soon face a cap on the amount of internet data they can download a month.

Traditional DSL users will be capped at 150 GB per month, while subscribers to the fiber-backed UVerse system have a 250-GB limit. Usage over that will be charged at $10/month for 50 GB, the company says.

The company says that currently only a small percentage of users -- around 2% -- use this much data a month. If that's the case, it's not clear why the company is bothering to install the caps.

It is, however, the same rationale (and the same usage stat) that the company relied upon to explain why it would be capping iPhone data plans last summer, which had hitherto been "unlimited."

DSL and UVerse connect fairly directly to a hub -- unlike cable connections where users share a local loop that can become congested. Bulk-bandwidth costs for an ISP are a tiny portion of its business costs, and those prices continue to fall even as users consume more and more data.

So, how could a user end up hitting these caps? Streaming video such as HD movies from Netflix, using bittorrent to download movies and heavy gaming with services like Steam can easily eat up lots of data, especially in households with multiple heavy internet users.

Time Warner Cable tried going further with trials of a service that imposed very low limits for users, which led to a furor among users and lawmakers.

There's little data to demonstrate whether large ISPs actually are experiencing real issues with congestion. Skeptics see the limits as ways to discourage cable video customers from "cutting the cord" and getting their video online, or as a way to pocket profits instead of re-investing in bulking up their infrastructure.

Derek Turner, the research director for the net neutrality advocacy group Free Press says the limits will discourage online innovation, and that with the growth curve of internet usage, the limits will soon catch many internet user.

"When ISPs force their customers to watch the meter, experimentation, innovation and business will suffer," Turner said.

"AT&T's actions are another troubling symptom of a broadband market that lacks meaningful competition, and this move may be the start of a race to the bottom among other providers to see who can squeeze its customers the most. At worst, this is a plan designed to discourage cord-cutting and pad profits; at best, this is another example of an antiquated phone-company business model being forced onto an otherwise vibrant and limitless marketplace."

Re: AT&T broadband users will soon face a cap on the amount of internet data they can download a

So how do you find out your current usage. when I looked it up on my account, it reads I don't have usage because it's unlimited. But I work from home and transcribe audio and video which I download from my clients and with AT&T imposing a cap I would like to see what my current usage is. They need to provide tools for people to see if and how it will affect them. Luckily the internet company I used to use left all the wiring intact as I said I may consider using them in the future... the future may be here!

Re: AT&T broadband users will soon face a cap on the amount of internet data they can download a

If you haven't heard, AT&T is buying T-Mobil. I wonder if adding caps was AT&T's way of squeezing more money out of their wired broadband service in order to help defray the costs of the T-Mobil acquisition. At any rate, once that merger goes through, we'll only have three national carriers - AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint. Perhaps Sprint will choose to become the discount carrier that T-Mobil is now. Do they have unlimited data plans? I imagine T-Mobil's will be disappearing. I wonder if the FCC would actually allow AT&T to buy T-Mobil and Verizon to buy Sprint (if they were even interested in such a move). Fewer carriers means more stagnation, less innovation, and higher prices. Whoopee. At any rate, Sprint seems pretty screwed by this move, especially since they were reportedly in talks to buy T-Mobil.

Re: AT&T broadband users will soon face a cap on the amount of internet data they can download a

For those of you who are contacting the FCC, here is a little bit of information that might be helpful. I did live chat with an AT&T agent the other day and AT&T is trying to pass the "Fair Access Policy" (which is what bandwidth capping is called) off as a law implemented by the FCC.

Re: AT&T broadband users will soon face a cap on the amount of internet data they can download a

This is ridiculous! My service just keeps taking hits from ATT. I've been a customer for over 13 years with DSL and every other year the service just gets worse. They take away from the packages each time, lower the bandwidth and at terms like UP TO 6.1 MBS. The upstream is a joke. With all of their new customers that are "clogging" their net you'd think they'd spend some money upgrading their infrastructure to accommodate what they are selling. Further more the CAP should have been highlighted in the E-MAIL not hidden on some secondary web page. Why wouldn't I change over to camcast now? Sure they have a cap, but better speeds up and down come with that cap, at the same price. ATT continues to disappoint me. Rather than looking forwards to the future seeing people are going to be streaming HDTV and HD MOVIES and being ready to accommodate the progress, att trys to stifle it and hinder it. What a joke. 150 gb cap. Lets see if i use the online world of war-craft installer and so does my girlfriend to install clean copies of a game we own and pay for legally, that's going to use over 60% of the cap for the month. Or about 21 HD MOVIES from netflix. So you cant even watch a movie every night under the 45 dollar package I pay for. Let alone watch UTUBES mail and do the CAMERA STREAMING CHAT I do all day everyday. So basically ATT is just not for me anymore. Greedy {word filter evasion}

Re: AT&T broadband users will soon face a cap on the amount of internet data they can download a

the cap doesnt start untill may. I spoke with an ATT rep and she said there would likely be a webpage what has your stats on it and they would email you when you got close to the cap. But they havent told their service resp anything about the change yet. How stupid is that, call the company to get info and the people that are supposed to be there to help you and know have been left in the dar.

Re: AT&T broadband users will soon face a cap on the amount of internet data they can download a

It is legal until AT&T notifies everyone about changes to its terms of service. I believe they have 30 days, IIRC. From what I have read at various places, the letters are already going out. I haven't received mine yet, though.

Re: AT&T broadband users will soon face a cap on the amount of internet data they can download a

If the deal goes through the way it is I will be dropping my internet, and phone service. This is what happens when there is almost no competion out there. I've just signed up with netflix online and I love it. However I will drop that and just go back to renting the dvd's through the mail.

I was going to sign up for cell phone service but now I am not going to do that either. This move will spell bad news for the consumer and I hope that it is not approved.

Re: AT&T broadband users will soon face a cap on the amount of internet data they can download a

Until the cap is inevitably enacted, I invite AT&T DSL subscribers to take full advantage of the handy new usage monitoring tool! During our last 'unlimited' month, EVERY account should try to get as close to the 150 gig limit as possible (practice makes perfect).

I'm sure they'll have more than enough bandwith to accommodate this (provided that the pesky 2% manages to keep it in check).

Re: AT&T broadband users will soon face a cap on the amount of internet data they can download a

Heres the deal. AT&T knowingly oversold their DSL network and is now supposedly congested. AT&T cannot/will not provide advertised speeds but are still charging the same full rates for DSL service. Now they intend to put a monthly cap on DSL users so as to "ease congestion". Thing is, you can still use all the bandwidth you want, it will just cost you more. How does this "ease congestion"? Will/does AT&T throttle users? Most likely. Will AT&T cut your speeds to zilch if you go over the cap? Maybe. Then in the next breath, AT&T announces its intended buyout of the fourth largest wireless carrier for a cool 39 billion. They can spend 39 billion to get rid of competition, but they cant spend 39 billion to fix their supposed ailing network so DSL customers can get what they actually pay for. This is purely a profit move, not a fix for DSL customers. The buyout is proof of that.

EVERYONE file complaints with the BBB and FCC!!!! It only takes a few minutes of your time.